This Weekend’s Race Preview: Richmond International Raceway

The weekend’s almost here, and with that comes some fantastic races. NASCAR’s coming back to the Richmond International Raceway with the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 and the Federated Auto Parts 400 tonight and tomorrow at 7PM respectively. Today’s weather is looking good with a high of 90° and only a20% chance of rain. Tomorrow there may be isolated thunderstorms and a 30% chance of rain.

But enough about the weather, let’s discuss the track. The Richmond International Raceway opened in 1946. It can hold 97,912 fans and is quite famous for being the location of the battle between Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip in 1986. Earnhardt tapped Waltrip, sending them both into the wall and handing Kyle Petty the win instead.

The asphalt track is D-shaped and .75 miles long. It banks 14° at the turns, 8° on the frontstretch, and 2° on the backstretch. The current lap record is held by Brian Vickers from 2004 at 0:20:772 seconds. That’s an average of 129.983mph.

Enough about the track, though. Here are the racers competing this weekend!